U.S. Embassy in Tanzania

Program Overview

SUSI is an intensive post-graduate level academic program with integrated study tours whose purpose is to provide foreign university faculty and other scholars the opportunity to deepen their understanding of American society, culture, and institutions. Knowledge and experience gained from these programs will help participants strengthen curricula and to improve the quality of teaching about the United States in their own universities and institutions when they return to their home country.

Each institute will host a group of participants from different countries around the world and will take place over the course of six weeks beginning in May 2024. We hope to nominate one Tanzanian scholar for each of the institutes below. All participant costs, including program administration, international and domestic travel and ground transportation, housing and subsistence, book, cultural, mailing, and incidental allowances will be sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

Prospective applicants are encouraged to visit the exchanges website page to obtain general information about the Institutes at: http://exchanges.state.gov/susi

Summary of the Institutes
American Politics and Political Thought

The Institute on American Politics and Political Thought will provide a multinational group of 18 experienced and highly motivated foreign university faculty and practitioners insight into how intellectual and political movements have influenced American political institutions and American democracy.  The Institute will explore the shaping of American identity and the interaction between that identity and U.S. history, politics, and the democratic process.  The Institute will cover a broad range of American experiences that have influenced and been influenced by American national identity.  The Institute will provide a deeper understanding of major currents in U.S. political thought, from the colonial period to the present, and explore contemporary U.S. political and social debates and public policy, relating them back to U.S. political thought and American identity.  The University of Montana will administer this program while the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts, will host this Institute.

Contemporary American Literature

The Institute on Contemporary American Literature will provide a multinational group of 18 experienced and highly motivated foreign university faculty and practitioners with a deeper understanding of U.S. society and culture, past and present, through an examination of contemporary American literature.  The Institute will examine how major contemporary writers, schools, and movements reflect the traditional, and evolving, U.S. literary canon.  The Institute will also explore the diverse communities and voices that constitute the American literary landscape and expose participants to writers who are establishing new directions for American literature.  The Institute will cover a variety of contemporary American writers and texts and suggest how the themes explored reflect larger currents within contemporary U.S. society and culture.  The University of Montana in Missoula, Montana, will administer and host this Institute.

Journalism and Media

The Institute on Journalism and Media will provide a multinational group of 18 experienced and highly motivated foreign journalism instructors and other related specialists with a deeper understanding of the roles that journalism and the media play in U.S. society.  The Institute will examine the role of journalists in recognizing, pointing out and preventing disinformation and will explore strategies for media and information literacy to counter disinformation.  Additionally, the Institute will examine best practices in journalism by discussing the rights and responsibilities of the media in a democratic society, including editorial independence, journalistic ethics, legal constraints, and international journalism.  The program will also highlight the impact of technology in journalism, including the influence of the digital economy, globalization of the news media, shifting business and funding models, and other changes that are transforming the profession.  The University of Montana will administer this program while Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, will host the Institute.

U.S. Culture, Identity, and Society 

The Institute on U.S. Culture, Identity, and Society will provide a multinational group of 18 experienced and highly motivated foreign university faculty and other specialists with a deeper understanding of U.S. society, culture, values, and institutions through the lens of diversity and national unity.  The Institute will examine the economic, ethnic, gender, political, racial, religious, and social contexts in which various cultures have manifested in U.S. society while focusing on the ways in which these cultures have influenced social movements and American identity throughout U.S. history.  The program will draw from a diverse disciplinary base and will provide a model of how a foreign university might approach the study of American culture and society.  The University of Montana will administer this program while Seattle University in Seattle, Washington, will host the Institute.

U.S. Economics and Sustainable Development

The Institute on U.S. Economics and Sustainable Development will provide a multinational group of 18 experienced foreign university faculty, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers with a deeper understanding of key components and structures of the U.S. economy.  Using a multidisciplinary approach, the program will explore various topics of socioeconomics such as how financial institutions, investors, and businesses interact to support sustainable economic development, innovation, and growth; and increasing diverse and equitable employment through institutional regulation, social inclusion strategies, and private and public policies.  Throughout the Institute, participants will examine the interplay of climate change, U.S. business innovation, corporate regulation, entrepreneurship, and economic theory.  Participants will have opportunities to learn about key institutions and stakeholders in the U.S. economy and meet with a diverse range of business leaders and small business owners, among others.  The University of Montana will administer this program while the Institute for Training and Development (ITD), in conjunction with Suffolk University, will jointly host the Institute in Amherst and Boston, Massachusetts.

U.S. Foreign Policy

The Institute on U.S. Foreign Policy will provide a multinational group of 18 experienced and highly motivated foreign university faculty and practitioners with a deeper understanding of new approaches to U.S. foreign policy and how U.S. foreign policy is formulated and implemented.  The Institute will include a historical review of significant events, individuals, and philosophies that have shaped U.S. foreign policy.  The program will explain the role of key influences on U.S. foreign policy including the executive and legislative branches of government, the media, the U.S. public, think tanks, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral institutions.  The Institute will also examine the current U.S. foreign policymaking landscape and emerging trends that are shaping policy.  The University of Montana will administer this program while the University of Delaware will host the Institute in Newark, Delaware.

Candidate Description and Qualifications:

Eligible candidates for the Study of the United States Institutes must be:

• Between the ages of 30-50.
• Highly motivated and experienced university lecturers or researchers in American Studies, preferably those having graduate degrees and substantial knowledge of the thematic area of the Institute.
• Comfortable with campus life and willing and able to fully take part in an intensive post-graduate level academic program and study tour; and
• Fluent in written and spoken English.

University lecturers, researchers with little or no prior experience in the United States, whose home institution is seeking to introduce aspects of U.S. Studies into its curricula, to develop new courses in the subjects of the program they apply for, to enhance and update existing courses on the United States, or to offer specialized seminars/workshops for colleagues in areas related to the program theme are highly encouraged to apply for the institutes.

Application

Eligible candidates are invited to submit a complete application form via email to Eadar@state.gov no later than 5:00 PM, Friday, January 05, 2024. No exceptions will be made regarding the deadline. Download the application form from the link below (DOC – 327KB).